Crohn’s Disease

Crohn’s Disease is a chronic inflammatory condition involving the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which can result in permanent intestinal damage. Patients suffering from this disease can become malnourished due to an inability to properly absorb nutrients, digest food and eliminate waste. Patients can experience severe chronic pain due to the inflammation in the intestinal tract.  This can cause patients to lose their appetite and feel nauseous.  Crohn’s Disease can also result in patients developing other health issues like bowel obstructions, ulcers, fistulas, anal fissures and even colon cancer.

Inflammatory Bowel diseases, including Crohn’s, and the effectiveness of medical marijuana to treat symptoms has been heavily researched with very positive results.  Dr. Jeff Hergenrather, M.D. published a paper in 2005 that many called groundbreaking.  The benefits of Medical Marijuana were numerous and included weight gain, improved appetite, and reduced vomiting, fatigue and depression as well as an overall increase in physical activity. In another study, “Cannabis induces a clinical response in patients with Crohn’s disease: a prospective placebo-controlled study,” patients were given an 8-week treatment of Medical Marijuana. Amazingly, 45% of the patients experienced complete remission of their Crohn’s disease.